Reports Show Construction Industry Going Strong

Things are looking up for the construction industry, according to two recent reports.

According to a new analysis of federal employment data released today by the Associated General Contractors of America, construction employment grew in 250 out of 358 metro areas between April 2018 and April 2019, declined in 53 and was unchanged in 55. AGC officials also said “construction employment in many parts of the country likely would have been higher if firms could find more qualified workers to hire.”

The second report of good news comes from the Marcum Commercial Construction Index , which reported that the first quarter of 2019 had the highest levels of private nonresidential construction spending ever recorded.

“Bolstered by increasingly strong spending in manufacturing construction, private nonresidential construction spending reached $460 billion in March, on a seasonally adjusted, annualized basis,” the report read. This represented a gain of 2.1 percent from this time last year. Spending on public construction also increased, experiencing a 9 percent year-over-year increase in March, swelling to $314.6 billion. Spending in the highway and street category expanded 13.4 percent, “surpassing power as the largest nonresidential construction subsector” the report stated.

The report also addressed the addition of new jobs within the industry, and the construction workforce shortage. Nonresidential construction added 32,400 net new jobs in April and 163,000 year-over year. Additionally, the industry’s 4.7 percent unemployment rate in April was the lowest construction unemployment recorded for any April since the Bureau of Labor Statistics began reporting this statistic in 2000.